By Mark Bishop, Deputy Director
I am fascinated by the intersection of technology and health. On one hand, we want to limit screen time for all of us -- we are already way too sedentary. However, we can use technology to educate, engage and encourage decisions that promote health. Take Dance Dance Revolution, Wii Fit, or even simple games that promote movement (like this one that my son tried on a cold winter day.) Technology is one more tool we can use to promote wellness.
A few months ago, the USDA launched a contest to encourage the development of health-promoting games: Apps for Healthy Kids. I loved the idea and I was looking forward to seeing what came out of it. Well, the entries are rolling in. And many of them are great.The contest includes way too many games for me to try out or even list. But I gave a few a whirl and I was impressed. I must admit that I’m partial to entries submitted by students rather than commercial interests.
So take a look at this one: Food Flight OS. It has beautiful drawings and is super creative: you need to feed and exercise an alien to help him get home.
Or how about a gross-out visual of how much sugar, fat and salt is in your food the in Smash Your Food game? (It is really satisfying to watch a hamburger getting mushed up!)
Or how about Food Hero, where you need to feed your character a balanced meal, exercise to gain strength, and buy equipment so you can get better and stronger?
Be sure to check out the entries that are coming in and vote for your favorites. Maybe the next great developers will make their start here. Maybe we’ll see our kids online learning about health and wellness. (And maybe, at the very least, we’ll all get to see what it looks like to smash up a jelly donut without having to get our own hands sticky.)
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